So what did Jesus really say about divorce? Hey friends, this is Michael Brown. We continue our series on the words of Jesus. We are going through the Sermon on the Mount, words that Jesus spoke that are spirit and life, words that are for each of us today, words that we take to heart and apply by God's grace, how to live this out, how to see God's character worked out in us, God's life worked out in us. And what is impossible for human beings is possible with God by His Spirit.
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So When it comes to divorce, this is not just a doctrinal issue. This is an issue that touches many, many millions of lives directly.
Some of you, like my wife Nancy, were raised in divorced homes.
Some of you yourselves have gone through the pain and trauma of a divorce.
So I do not get into the subject in some abstract way, just dealing with doctrine and theology, because these are real, real lives. When you read outside of the Sermon on the Mount, And outside of Matthew, When you read in Mark and Luke, Jesus just says very simply and plainly that whoever divorces his wife forces her to commit adultery. In other words, if she remarries, she's an adulterer. If he remarries, any remarriage while the spouse is living would be understood to be adultery.
Now, Jesus says something very different here. in Matthew 5. And in Matthew 19, the question is: how do we put these things together? Let let's start here. Let's start here.
We know God's heart. is for one man and one woman to be joined together for life. That is the ideal. That is his desire. That's even an illustration of the Messiah and the church.
So we understand that. Those who've been through divorce would say it's terribly painful. There are no winners in it. And the longer you've been married, or if you have kids, it can be very, very complicated, very, very difficult.
So let's start there. That the ideal, if you marry the person, you want to spend the rest of your life with that person. That's the goal. When you get married, that's the intent. Sickness, health, better, worse, we're in this.
together. That's the ideal, that's the goal. As I'm recording this now, It is September of 2025. In March of 2026, God willing, Nancy and I celebrate our 50th anniversary. And in our almost 50 years of marriage, the word divorce has never come up.
We understood we're married for life, and that's it. You're in it together, and I cannot imagine life without Nancy. I cannot imagine her not being part of my life every day. And those of you who have been married many, many years, you understand this.
So we're not just talking in the abstract here. If you have gone through a divorce. If your spouse has divorced you and you fought for reconciliation and it wouldn't happen. Or if you and your spouse were trying for years to work things out and things exploded, got worse, and you ended up with a divorce. or you made that choice.
Or If if you have found biblical grounds for divorce. And to you, that was the only way to save yourself, to protect your children. I'm speaking to many, many different people here. I am not your God. I am not your judge.
You do not need my approval. You need God's approval. Many people have been through divorce, then they remarry. And they come and ask the question. Is it okay?
What do you think? My opinion is not what matters. You have to be sure of choices you've made, divorce, remarriage, before the Lord. And if, as you studied scripture, you realized you came to the conclusion. that there were not biblical grounds for divorce.
But you can't take the thing back. The spouse is already remarried. You can only ask God for forgiveness, and He can forgive that sin as well. Yes, he can sometimes we make it the unforgivable sin.
So if there were things done wrong. And you say, but we remarried, is the remarriage valid?
Well, look at scripture. And then what you need is God's opinion, not Mine. Jesus says In Matthew 5, 31. It has been said Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce. This is Deuteronomy chapter 24.
Why was that the case? Was that ideal? No, it was a concession. We know in Malachi, the end of the second chapter, it says that God hates divorce. And in Matthew 19, Jesus explains.
You see, as is well known, there was a dispute between the two Pharisaic houses, the house of Hillel and the house of Shammai.
So this would be like within a denomination, within the same denomination, two major opinions within that denomination.
So within the party of the Pharisees, among Pharisaic Jews, there were two main groups, and that was Hillel and Shammai. And they had a difference about divorce. And according to Hillel, it was the compassionate thing. If for any reason you're not happy with your wife, divorce her. Just that's the best thing to do is divorce her.
If you're not happy with her, divorce her. And even extreme statements, if you find someone you like better, if she doesn't cook your breakfast right, I'm paraphrasing, divorce her. The the the school of Shammai said Only for sexual immorality, because that's the breaking of the covenant. You seal the covenant with sexual union, husband and wife becoming one. You now break that covenant with sexual union with someone else, so that would be a grounds for divorce.
And of course, if there was a grounds for divorce, then there would be the ability to remarry potentially.
So in Matthew 19, The Pharisees come and ask Jesus, Is it right to divorce for any reason? And He said, No. only for sexual immorality.
So in other words, he had the same position there as the house of Shammai. only for sexual immorality.
And they said, well then why? In Matthew 19, why did Moses give us a certificate of divorce? And he says, because the hardness of your hearts. It was not ideal. It was not the best.
but because of human nature. Because of the state of things. It had to be done for human functioning. And otherwise, there could be all types of cruelty to the wife, because it was only the husband who could divorce the wife. In Mark, it deals with the wife divorcing her husband, because you could do that under Roman law.
It deals with that as well. But in Judaism only the husband could divorce the wife. There could be all kinds of cruelty. abuse of the wife, all different kinds of things, whatever. It was a conciliation.
But Jesus said, that's not how it was in the beginning. In the beginning, God makes them male and female, makes them... To come together as one, the two will become one, and what God's drawing together, don't let anyone separate. That remains the ideal.
So Jesus now says, I tell you, That anyone who divorces his wife except for sexual immorality makes her the victim of adultery, and anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
So You could say Well, that's saying you can divorce but not remarry.
So if there is sexual immorality, pornea in Greek, there could have been a different Hebrew-Aramaic word, but with the same overall sense as Jesus was teaching. for sexual immorality. That That is a valid grounds for divorce, obviously if you can reconcile, that's better. We know couples where there was an adulterous affair. The husband left the wife, took off with someone else, came back in repentance, and she was able to forgive him.
We know it going the other direction, and there was reconciliation. And the marriage today is stronger and better than ever. That's always the goal, but sometimes it's not feasible.
Sometimes the person that commits sexual immorality doesn't want it. And notice it doesn't just say adultery, but sexual immorality.
So there are a wide range of things that could come under that heading. For example, a a man having a homosexual relationship with with another man, it's That would be under the category of broadly sexual immorality. How far does it go? What if he has a porn addiction? These are fair questions to ask.
Fair questions to ask. The goal, though, and this is what Jesus is emphasizing: is marriage is sacred. Marriage is sacred. You do not want to downplay the sacredness of marriage. You do not want to downplay the sacredness of the two coming together as one.
So don't try. Treat divorce lightly, but there are valid situations where divorce. can be acceptable. And let's just say the man leaves the wife, commits adultery, and is not coming back.
Well, she has biblical grounds to divorce him. Reconciliation is impossible. She has biblical grounds to divorce as I understand it. she would then have the ability to remarry.
Now, I understand in Romans 7 It says that under the law, as long as the spouse is living, if the person remarries, they're committing adultery. You could say, but not if it's the case where there was immorality. Not only so, in 1 Corinthians the seventh chapter. Paul writes there, that if you're married to an unbeliever, So you're both married.
Now maybe you come to faith. And let's say your wife is not a believer, but she's happy to be married, then don't divorce her. Because she's sanctified, not in terms of actually being made holy in her relationship with God, but she's set apart to God because her husband's a believer, so he can pray for her and God can work in her life a certain way. Because the husband's a believer, the children are set apart to God. But if she leaves, if she says, I want to follow my gods, I don't want you, I don't want the kids, I'm leaving, I'm taking off with this guy.
If she leaves, says the brother or sister is not bound in that case. And many interpreters understand that to mean that there is a legal loosing. and that you could remarry. You say, well, what what about What about cases of physical abuse. What about cases where the spouse is being beaten?
The husband is beating his wife.
Well, for sure. If there's danger to your health, there's danger to your children. then do what what you need to do to be to keep yourself safe. God is not calling you to just be beaten to death to be a good spouse. do what you can to keep yourself safe.
There may have to be separation. There may have to be legal intervention. Are there grounds for divorce there?
Well, Jesus does not say it explicitly. And and You have to tread very carefully. Certainly, you keep yourself and your children safe. As I said, there may have to be legal intervention. where this person is not allowed to come near you.
There may be separation. There may be long-term separation. Are there grounds for divorce? Jesus does not say it explicitly. Very strong cases have been made for it.
I say you have to work that out with you and the Lord and your spiritual leadership. Because Jesus does not explicitly give that option. I've seen arguments, analogy, that it's still, you can make an analogy for this, for this, for this, for this. I am not here to make a pronouncement. Work it out with the Lord, but do whatever you must do.
I don't mean... take out a gun and shoot the person. But I mean, get yourself in a safe situation as best as you can. Don't be afraid if there's a legal threat to call the authorities. You're protecting yourself, you're protecting your children as the case may be, if there is physical danger.
But whether that is grounds for divorce, you can logically say so. It's simply something that Jesus did not say. But here's where I want to tread very carefully. I have colleagues. One dear brother has taught very clearly for decades And you can make the argument that through much of church history this was the norm.
that there can be divorce, but as long as the spouse is alive, there is no remarriage. After many years of marriage, his wife left him. Committed adultery. and then ended up marrying someone else.
So he has never remarried. He understands that's what scripture teaches. He's never remarried and he will not. remarry as long as she is alive. I know many others have lived by that.
They understand that to be what Scripture teaches. And therefore they hold to it. And I honor and respect that. Others say, no, if you have the right to divorce, then it is clearly implied and understood that you can remarry, in which case you're not committing adultery. just be sure before the Lord.
is not a question of how I feel. As I understand it, yes. There can be remarriage if there is valid grounds for divorce. But you do not need the approval of Michael Brown. You need the approval of the Lord.
So work these things out with him. There are many points I'll come down dogmatically on in black and white ways as I understand scripture. Because of the degree to which this impacts individual lives and the degree of scriptural debate, I encourage you, work it out between you. And the Lord, so that you have peace and you have assurance, because that is what matters. Most.
Does that make sense? All right. It's not a matter of me not wanting to say more because I don't want to be controversial. It's a matter of me not wanting to say more lest my opinion becomes more important than your own study of scripture in such a crucially important matter. I do believe, for sure, That there are many marriages that are questionable in God's sight.
What do I mean?
Well, for example, I don't believe that two men Can marry and God recognizes it as a marriage, or two women, no matter how sincere and loving and sweet they may be. And even if they consider themselves people of faith, they are deceived in it, even if the love they have for each other is real. It's not a marriage in God's sight. in the same way. Uh if a man divorces his wife because he's committed adultery and he doesn't want his wife anymore.
He wants that woman and now he marries the woman he's committing adultery with. That's not a valid marriage in God's sight. And there are people who've just gone on for years like that as believers. And if going back into ministry, what about them? They have to answer to God, not to me.
But as I understand it, the marriage is not valid. Again, they have to answer to God, not to me. You say, Well, what about people that had wrong divorce before they were saved and divorced and remarried and now they're married If there's no way to go back and fix the past, I believe you're saved. You start right there. Cleansed by the blood with a brand new start, and you move forward.
If there are things from the past you could fix and rectify, you do it. Otherwise you move. forward That is the grace and mercy and kindness of God and the power of The blood of Jesus. Friends, just a reminder: if you enjoyed these broadcasts, not only are you helping us with your prayer and your financial support to continue to put out our podcast, but so much else that we do at the Line of Fire, standing against the rising tide of anti-Semitism, reaching out to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, stirring hearts for revival and cultural reformation. And we could really use your help.
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